Multiple electric circuit controller



Aug. 19, 1952 G. H. RUFLE 2,607,841

MULTIPLE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CONTROLLER Filed Aug. 20, 1949 FIGJ DUDDDDDDDDDDDUDDDD-DDU DUDDDUUU ATTORNEY- Patented Aug. 19, 1952 MULTIPLE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CONTROLLER George H. Rufle, Laurelton, N. Y.

Application August 20, 1949, Serial No. 111,516

Claims.

This invention relates to electricity especially to circuit controlling devices and more particularly to circuit controlling devices adaptable to control a multiplicity of circuits.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a circuit controller of low cost and of relatively slight dimensions which is operative to energize all or any number of a relatively great number of electric circuits, simultaneously or successively in any order.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the type specified which will be especially adapted to control the flow of electrical energy to a multitude of substantially identical electrical devices, such as a multitude of closely associated electric lamps, in such a manner that by the illumination or non-illumination of the lamps a desired coniiguration may be exhibited as stationary or movable, recognizable visually as a letter or word, or a thing or place or as an illusion of motion of a gure or iigures.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the ydescription of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses andthe novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail and the particular physical embodiment selected to illusvtrate the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings and the several views thereon, in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views, and in which: i

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of an insulating wire retaining 4block exhibited in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a View illustratingv the position of a body of mercury used as an electrical contacting member in the device as shown by Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the mercury in a depressed state; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view ofv a portion of circuit controlling rbbon usable with the devicevof Fig. l; Fig. 6 is an illustration of a portion' of circuit controlling ribbon usable in connection withthe device of Fig. 1 whereby an illusion of motion of a human figure may be elected.

It is well known that structures of large superiicial area are commonly erected in prominent positions, especially upon the tops of buildings in such cities as New York, which are studded over their entire area with closely spaced electric lamps and that these lamps are sometimespermanently illuminated in such manner as to exhibit what might be called a still picture and at .other times are so illuminated as to give a picture having a varied aspect sometimes giving the illusion of a motion of either animate or inanimate things.

It is also well known that when one of these signs includes a very great number of electric lamps, the circuit controlling means necessary to control the lamps is of a very extensive character and is costly to manufacture and install and occupies a very considerable space. This is especially true where the sign is used in such a manner as to give the illusion of motion.

I reduce the cost and bulk of the necessaryl circuit controller for the proper control of the so-called illuminated signs and I do this by providing a circuit controller of such construction that moving mechanically operated parts requiring positive reciprocation or rotation is quite fully avoided. I accomplish my object mainly because I employ a liquid as a contacting surface.

The use by me of a liquid as a contacting surface further enables me to use as the cooperating electric circuit controller part an elongated conductive member having portions rendered nonconductive by an extremely thin coating of a relatively soft material easily scratched or scraped oi by a rigid relatively inflexible contacting member but which may successfully pass over a liquid contacting member without injury so that I am enabled to use as a cooperating circuit closing means in connection with my liquid a ribbonlike structure approximating an ordinary motion picture film the base of which, however, is .formed of metal rather than celluloid or other plastic.

In order to control a large number of plurality or multiplicity of electric `circuits employing'a liquid as one contact or pole of the circuit controller and to be able to use a metallic ribbon as the other contact or pole of the circuit controller and have that metallic ribbon of a Width approximating that of the ordinary commercial motion picture film, it is necessary to have my points of liquid contact all positioned within an extremely limited area. I contemplate being w'ell able to have 576 liquid contact points within an area of one square inch.

In order to embody my fundamental concept in tangible materials, I prefer to have my liquid contact points at the plane surface of a block of -electric insulating material as I. l Y

With my contact points at the surface of a block of insulating material I, I may then pass or slide a ribbon 2 over the surface of the block y while I press it rmly in contact with the block by a presser foot 3, and if the ribbon 2 has nonconductive coatings thereon on the side presented to the liquid contact points and if the presser 3 is made one side of a circuit and electric conductors are connected to each of the liquid contact points, the passing of the ribbon 2 over the surface will cause the circuits to be made and broken in accordance with the surface coating of the ribbon I, as such mercury meniscus will be contacted and flattened.

I have shown a preferred form of my invention in Fig. 1. The block of insulating material I, formed of any suitable plastic such as glass, or a phenol-formaldehyde resin, or hard rubber, may in one condition be caused to ilow around a multitude of wires and in another condition be relatively solid.

I prefer to have my liquid contact points formed by metallic mercury and I prefecto" have this mercury deposited in cavities Il opening in the upper face of the b lcck I as shown in Fig. l.

Eachk contact point of mercury as 5, 6, 'Ig 8, 9 and: I Q; when ribbon 2 is not pressed thereagainst, will appear as shown in Fig. 3, that is, the cavity 45 of a, denite volumetric capacity will have a body. of; mercury as Etherein ofsuch volume that the, mercury will protrude from the upper plane face Ili ofthe block I. It is well knownv that mercury forms a convex meniscus when in a capillary tube or depression. I take advantage of; this fact and p ut such a volume of mercury in the cav-ities, as 4, that I will produce aperceptible protrusion as a convex meniscus of the mercury, above the topsurface II of the block I. This protrusion is designated I2` in Fig. 3; Theu volumev of mercury will also b e such that. ifV pressure is applied to the top ofthe meniscus the mercury will be depressedY and flattened and thensubstantially just fill the cavity -4 because the` volume of mercury in the meniscus; above the toufjace. I'I isY substantially equivalentto the emptyyspaces I3 and IIIy of: the cavity Il'. The resuit. isthatwhen the ribbonv 2 is drawn over the topg'ofjthe block I and pressed against. thev top face; I'Ij of the block the mercury 5- will assumev the condition as: shown in Fig. 4k with all the to; face thereof abutting the ribbon 2. No mercury;will^be draggedor pushed out ofi` the cavity 4f; due to the ribbon 22 being drawn thereover so that. after'the ribbonpasses over the opening of the-cavityr Il:V themercury will rfc-assume the conditionasshown in Fig. 3. However, ifA there is an excess of. mercury in the cavity which has not-,been-properly removed byv drawingiaV striker across the face of the block I, then that excess mercury may be draggedaway by ribbon but this willi cause no difficulty because' there will always be left su'cient, mercury tojustrll the cavitydias-shown by Fig. 4.

In. order to produce* the cavities II opening in thefface II of the block I, I arrangeY a. series1ofA wires', as I5, I6, I'I made of any proper electrically con-ducting,l material, as copper, with the baredv ends; ask I8 protrudingthrough the face` o;VV the block orpositioned so that they will protrude when the materialofftheblock I is cast or otherwise positioned about them. The bared` ends I3 of the Wires will be electricallyY insulated one from the` other by-the insulating materialv of. the

block` I, and whenthe material of-Y the block I- is set, the protruding.` ends of the wires, may be clipped off and then a suitableacid, such as nitric acid,A may-- be applied to the faCe II of they block land the ends dissolved ori-eaten awayfor ag suitable distance downwardly from the 4 plane face II of the block as in Fig. l to make a cavity of proper depth `II.

I, of course, do not mean to exclude other methods of forming the cavities II because they can be made by drilling or a similar method. The method which I prefer, however, produces a cavity Il which is entirely mercury tight except for the opening in the face yII as the bared ends I8 are so tightly grasped'byl the material oi' block I that the mercury cannot leak down bctween the wires and the material of the block.

As shown in Fig. 2, electrically conducting means as the wires as I5, I6 and II may be positioned in a block I so closely together that there may be, as I have already stated, easily as many as 576 to a square inch arranged in mult-iple rows, each dot of Fig. 2 designating a mercury meniscus and so a wire.

Each-of the wires, as I5, I6 and I'I is connected at one end to a mercury pool and may be connected at the other end to separate and independent electrical devices 30, to be controlled, such, for instance, as lamps. The other terminal of the device would be, of course, connected to a` source of potential, as 3|, and the other side of the source of potential could be connected by an electrical conductor I9 to the electrically conducting, preferably metal, presser shoe 3, interposing an electrical switch 32. The presser shoe 3 bearing directly upon the bared metal of the upper face of the metal ribbon 2 would then act to complete a circuit through the metal ribbon and a mercury contact point.

The metal ribbon 2 would be actuated by suit- 1 able mechanism to moveV in the direction of the arrow 2i). This suitable mechanism could well. be the mechanism of an ordinary motion picture projector, as at 2i, taking the ribbon from a; mechanism denoted by the numeral 22, such as a reel.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a ribbon 2 formed ofr a suitable electrical conducting material preferably iron or steel. provided with the ordinary motion picture film sprocket holes 23 which may serve to actuatev the ribbon by means of the actuating mechanism 2|. This ribbon, of course, should be made of metal of such thickness and width as will enable it to be wound on a reel as 22.

For the` purpose of illustrating how my invention may be utilized I have illustrated a pore tion of a word on the ribbon 2 of Fig. 5. Thisv would be placed on the ribbon in any desired or appropriate manner. It could be painted on byhand usingvan electrical insulating paint, such as asphaltum. It could be stamped thereon `bymeans of an ordinary rubber stamp with a nonconducting ink. It could be formed thereon by making use of the photographic processes asV by coating the entire film with bichromated gelatin, then exposing the ribbonk as in a camera to tjliev desired Words painted white on a black background, so that thegelatin not exposed to light.

the parts thereunder etched tosome appreciable," depth after which the.- entirev lml ribbon is;

cleaned and then the` etched portions, ofthesrib.-

bon-filled even with the surface ofthe ribbon with z This ribbon is preferably non-electrical conduct- That is electrical potential would be selectively applied in a predermined manner to the mercury pools.

It is to be understood that by the illustration' and description of a ribbon, such as that shown in Fig. 5, I do not mean to exclude the use of a precisely similar ribbon, but with all portions of the ribbon rendered non-conducting I except those portions which represent a letter so that if such a ribbon were put through the device yof Fig.` 1, there would appear upon a sign illuminated letters surrounded by a dark background.

I have also shown a metallic ribbon, preferably formed of iron or steel in Fig. 6. This'ribbon 25, is preferably arranged with sprocket holes V26 and has image spaces thereon, as between the imaginary line 21 and the imaginary line 28. In each of these image spaces a figure may be produced and the figures in the various spaces may be related one to the oth-er as in the ordinary motion picture lm or the so-called animated film, that is, if s-uch a film of transparent lm material were put through an ordinary motion picture projector and the picture projected on the screen, the illusion of motion would be produced. The various figures as 29 on the ribbon 6 may be produced in any of the well-known and appropriate ways as by hand painting, stamping or photography as by bichromated gelatin and if produced by photography may be formed from either actual objects or persons or suitably made drawings. l

Although I have shown and described the wire I9 connected to a presser foot 3 in order to connect the ribbon '2 with a source of potential, of' course I do not intend to exclude a construction in which the metallic ribbon is connected to the source of potential by means of a mercury meniscus in the face of the block I.

If it is desired to avoid irritating flashes when the ribbon 2 moves from one position to another, the source of potential may be `disconnected from the ribbon 2 during that time by the manually operated switch 32. Of course, I do not mean to exclude by this simple showing the use of an automatically operated switch from accomplishing the same function operated in connection with the driving or pulling mechanism for ribbon 2.

Although presser foot 3 may be made of suiicient weight to suitably press ribbon 2 against the top of the block I, I may, ifnecessary, use, in addition, springs, as 33 and 34 to push the presser v`footagainst the ribbon 2 andso the ribbon 2 against the top of block I. Although I have i1- lustrated and described a presser foot 3 made of solid material, I do not Want it to be understood that I mean to exclude other forms of presser foot as it might well be advantag-eous to use a presser foot of the general nature of a brush, that is, a somewhat solid body studded all over with protruding spring fingers which would cover the entire area of the top of the ribbon in contact with the mercury pools so as to, in effect, press down the ribbon over each individual pool.

As I prefer to form my cavities in the block I for the reception of the. mercury by dissolving out the ends of the wires as I8, I, of course, would select a plastic material for block I which would not be injuriously effected by the dissolving acid used. Although I prefer to make Vthe ribbon 2 of ferrous material, as iron or steel, I d-esire to have it understood that the determining characteristic in selecting the metal is whether or not that metal has such an affinity for mercury that objectionable amalgamation or wetting by the mercury occurs. It is quite essential thatthe metal used for the ribbon 2 should be one which is substantially non-wetting by mercury and also non-amalgamating. In fact, there is no reason why electrically conducting glass may not4 be used as a ribbon.

The block I with associated parts may be considered as one pole of an electric switch. The other pole would be ribbon 2.

From the hereinbefore given description it will be seen that I have. produced an extremely simple, inexpensive, small bulk device by which I can control an immense number of circuits by the use of desirably formed metallic ribbons approximating the width of the ordinary commercial motlon picture film and may thus control a multiplicity of circuits governing a multiplicity of lamps positioned closely adjacent over the superficial area of a large sign in such manner as to exhibit the desired configuration of illumination of the lamps to exhibit as a still, or may shift from one still to another still by a simple motion of the ribbon or may give the illusion of motion to a conguration corresponding to inanimate or animate things.

Although I have particularly described one particular physical embodiment of invention and explained the construction and principle thereof, nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the form selected is merely illustrative, but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure lby Letters Patent is:

1. A device for exhibiting minute images by lighted electric lamps, including in combination, a; metallic ribbon of a width approximating that of an ordinary-motion picture film formed on its face with a succession of picture spaces containing vimages depicting a body in motion, said images exhibiting the neness of detail of that produced by physico-chemical optical methods, said images formed in part by bare ribbon, electrically conducting, and in part by electrically insulating coating, an electrical insulating body formed with a plane face formed with a plurality of cavities opening in the face, said cavities, in number, being of the order of at least 400 to the square inch, a pool of mercury in each body cavity, the volume of each cavity being such that each cavity will contain all of the mercury therein when the mercury meniscus is completely flattened, a plurality of electric lamps, a source of potential, means for moving the ribbon longitudinally relatively to the body face, means for causing the ribbon and body to move relatively one toward the other, and for pressing the ribbon face and body face together whereby vthe mercury meniscuses are flattened and contact the several parts of the face of the ribbon, electrical conducting means bearing on the back of the ribbon and electrically connected to lthe source of potentiall, means electrically connecting the electric lamps, with the source of potential, andi conductors, onev electrically connecting each poolof mercury with an electric lamp. Y

.2; A device for exhibiting minute. images. by lighted electric lamps, including in combination, a. metallic ribbon of a Width approximating that of en ordinary motion picture lm formedv on its face. a succession of picture spacesl containing images; depicting a body in motion, said images. exhibiting the flneness of detail of that produced by physico-chemical optical methods, said imagesvformed-,in part by bare ribbon, electri'cally conducting, and in part by electrically'insulating c.oating,'an electrical insulating body formed with a -plane face formed with a plurality of cavities opening in the face, said cavities, in number, being of the order of at least 5.76 to the square inch, a pool of mercury in each body cavity, the volume ofeach cavity being such that each cavity will contain all of the mercury therein when the mercury meniscus isv completely flattened, a plurality of electric lamps, a source of potential, means for moving the ribbon longitudinally relatively to thebody face, means for causing the ribbon and body to. move relatively one-toward the. other, and for pressing the ribbon face and bodyface together whereby the mercury meniscuses are flattened and contact the several parts. of the face of the ribbon, electrical con- `ducting means bearing on the back of the ribbon and electrically connected to the.y source. ofv potential, means electrically connecting .the electric lamps with the source of potential, and conductors, one electrically connecting each pool oi mercury with an electric lamp.

3. A device for exhibiting minute images by lighted electric lamps, including in combination, a metallic ribbon of a width approximating that of anord-inary motion picture lm formed on its face Witha succession of picture spaces con. taining images depicting a body in motion, said images exhibiting theiineness of detail of. that produced by physico-chemical' optical methods, said images formed in part by bare ribbon,y .electrically conducting, and in part by electrically insulating coating, an electrical insulatingl body formed with a plane face formed with a plu.- rality of cavities opening in the face, said cavities,

in number being of the order of at least 400 to the square inch, a pool of mercury in each body cavity, a plurality of electric lamps, a source of potential, means for moving the ribbon longitudinally relatively to the body face, means for causing the ribbon and body to move relatively one toward the other, and for pressing the ribv bon face and body face together whereby the mercury meniscuses contact the several parts of the face of the ribbon, electrical conducting means bearing on the back of the ribbon and electrically connected to the source of potential. means electrically connecting the electric lamps with the source of potential, and condilctors,one electrically connecting each pool of mercury with an electric lamp.

4. A device for reproducing, enlarged, images of a size of the order of those of an ordinary mo- Gli tion. picture nlm. by electric lamps). including: in combination, a thin, narrow ribboiifo its face withza s.1.1cc,e.s.sior1.L ci lineages. ,Said images exhibiting: the oneness ofdetailY producedvr bi! physico-chemical critical rriethode` Seid images being; in; part electrically conducting and part electrically insulating, a. plurality ci mercury meniscuses, in: number, being of the order' of at leastlo; te. the Square inch, a plurality of. electrio: 1amps,a source-of potential, means for mcying the ribbon longitudinally relatively to the mercury meniscuses, means forr causing.' tile, rib,- bon and mercury meniscuses to move relatively one toward the other andy making` electrical contacty therebetween whereby the mercury meniseuses,-v are placed in electric circuit withv the: seyeral electrically conducting. parts of the face of the ribbon, electrical conductingy means, connect ine. the electrical conducting: parteV of the, face oi the ribbon with. the source4 of potentialmeans electricallyy connecting the electric lamps with the Source of. potential, and conductors, one elec trically connecting each mercury meniscus, with en electriclamp- 5. A device for reproducing. enlarged. the minute details. ofv images exhibiting. the fineness ot detail produced by physico-chemical. optical methods. by electric lampsi.ncluding in combina..- tion, a. metallic ribbon formed on its. face. with. e succession of images.,l said images exhibiting, the neness. ofA detail produced by- 'physico-chemical optical, methods, said images, formed in, partiA by bare ribbon, electrically conducting, and in hart by electrically insulating. coating., a. plurality of mercury meniscuses electrically insulated. one.. from the. other.. in, number, being of the4 order of. at least. 400, to. the. square inchl, a. plurality 0f electric. lampe. a source o f. potential., means.. for moving the ribbon. longitudinally relatively to. the mercury merlisenses,y means.. for causing, the rib.-

. bon. and mercury meniscuses. to move relatively one toward the other and make electricalv contact between the meniscuses and the barepart ,Oi the face. of; the ribbon. electrical conducting, means 'connecting' to4 the back of: the ribbon andqclectricelly connected;v to the source of' potential.

means electrically connecting. the electric lamps,

with the source of potentiahand conductors, one electrically connecting, each mercury meniscus with an electric lamp. GEORGE RUFLE:

REFERENCES CITED 'rnecfollowing references are of record in the illo of. this.; patent: Y

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